Skip to main content

Diamonds or Pearls?

Weigh in: Diamonds or pearls?

For me, it’s diamonds. That’s why Jessica’s necklace in my Christian Romantic Suspense, Deadly Intent, is diamonds.

I based Jessica’s necklace on an actual necklace from Tiffany, the Jean Schlumberger “Lynn” necklace. The photo is copyrighted so I can’t post it on my blog, but you can see the necklace online here.

Isn’t it lovely?

Tell me which you prefer, and post pics/links to your favorite jewelry!

Comments

Bill Brockmeier said…
Hi Camy—I've loved all your comments you've been making on BLB! (by the way, what an exceptional course!) But I have to say, that I LOVE pearls far more than diamonds, though diamonds are an absolutely marvelous substance. In my mind, pearls are truly a miracle. In my yet unpublished historical fiction novel, The Stone Cutter, one of the minor characters is a wise old Chinese pearl trader named Rongyu Shu, and he gives a rich soliloquy to my protagonist about the wondrous nature of what pearls are. Let me quote the last portion of his explanation—

"...I believe the truth of the miracle is far more compelling. I believe it is to be found at the very center of what a pearl is. We commonly think of a pearl as an object of consummate beauty—and that is certainly so. But if a costly pearl were split open—and I shudder to imagine that—we would see at its core, something tiny, and unsightly. A grain of sand, a piece of broken shell, perhaps a small parasite. None of these has a beauty or wonder in itself. They are ugly, malignant, destructive. In the normal course of life, these things may invade the protected home of the shellfish. The invaders work themselves in between the shells and into the soft flesh of the animal’s delicate body, producing irritation, disruption, perhaps injury.
“To protect itself from the invader, the animal then begins the miraculous work of containing, isolating the alien contaminant. It uses the same process as for producing its home, its shell. The soft tissue of the animal secretes a substance that becomes the nacre—the crystallized essence of clouds, rainbows, and moonlight. The animal wraps the dark, broken, grit and filth of living in an envelope of the highest form of beauty. Month after month, and year after year, it adds layer upon layer upon layer of nacre, ultimately developing a depth of glowing luster that could never be imagined, if not seen first in a high quality pearl.
“This is certainly a miracle of the highest order. I believe that, somehow, whoever imagined and created all that we know, has enabled this wondrous process to tell us something wonderful about themselves. It must be a picture in miniature of who they are, and what they are about."

So there you have it, Camy. My take (or at least my character's take) on what pearls really are!
Anonymous said…
And of course, no discussion of pearls would be complete without at least a mention of the first queen of Italy—Margherita di Savoy, the Queen of Pearls (and yes, Margherita is actually here given name, and means "little pearl" in Italian!). She wore pearls, extravagantly, nearly every day of her life (well, maybe not when she climbed the Alps). She is a simply fascinating character of history that one day, I hope to write a novel about. She loved fast cars, climbed mountains, was the "Princess Diana" of Italy in the 19th century, and even invented the "Margherita" pizza. Hey, you interested in co-authoring a romance about her, down the road? Anyway, here she is— http://gogmsite.net/_Media/1901-published-margherita-2.jpeg
Camy Tang said…
Your writing is so beautiful! I love it!
Camy Tang said…
That’s fascinating! Alas, I do not have time for any co-authoring, but I think you should write that book! It would be wonderful!

Popular Posts

"Sincerely" by TRUE (from Violet Evergarden)

I’ve been watching the anime Violet Evergarden on Netflix and it is possibly the most beautiful anime series I’ve ever seen. The animation by Kyoto Animation is top notch, the storyline (based on the light novel series ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン by Kana Akatsuki (暁 佳奈)) is emotional and unique, and the original soundtrack by Evan Call is out of this world. The vocal songs in the series are also really beautiful, but the best one is the opening song, “Sincerely” by TRUE. She not only has a beautiful voice, but the melody and lyrics are absolutely gorgeous. I can’t rave about this song enough. 知らない言葉を 覚えていくたび おもかげのなか 手を伸ばすの Each time unknown words come to mind, I reach my hand toward the traces they leave. だけど一人では 分からない言葉も あるのかもしれない But there may be words That I can’t comprehend all alone. さよならは 苦くて アイシテルは 遠いにおいがした 例えようのない この想いは とても怖くて だけど とても愛おしくて “Goodbye” is so bitter, While “I love you” carries a far-off scent. This incomparable feeling Is so very frightening… bu...

Window shopping

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.14.2005 Knee update: I went to the doctor today for a checkup, and saw his assistant. I’ve been concerned because there’s still inflammation in my knee joint, and it’s been almost 4 months since the surgery. She said she’d talk to the doctor about it tomorrow and call me. Sometimes he suggests laying off the PT to see if that causes the inflammation to go away, but I don’t know if that will work because lately I’ve been pretty active outside of PT. At PT today, the therapist did ultrasound and some sort of electrical current on the joint. Hopefully that will make the inflammation start to go down. I’ll know by tomorrow, probably. Writing: Mt. Hermon conference starts this Friday! On Thursday night, I’ll be at the Santana Row Borders bookstore to help out (and hopefully learn a bit, too) at a booksigning for several of the ACFW authors who are attending Mt. Hermon . That should be lots of fun. I had a good brainstorming time at ...

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

Got my contract!

Captain’s Log, Stardate 07.06.2006 For all you writers —check out my Story Sensei critique service Summer Sale ! Get a 10% off coupon just for entering! Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is LOVE ONLINE by Kristin Billerbeck and Nancy Toback . My Monday book giveaway is RECONSTRUCTING NATALIE by Laura Jensen Walker. You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On FRIDAY (not Thursday), I'll draw the winner for LOVE ONLINE and post the title for another book I'm giving away—PLUS . . . Save the date! On Friday July 7th, to celebrate the release of THE REDEMPTION by M.L. Tyndall (my good friend), I'll be posting a contest for a free book AND two free tickets to see the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Curse ! But you can only enter all day on Friday, July 7th! Ronie’s trip to California: I got to spend some time with Ronie and her family when they visited Dineen ’s place yesterday! TMI: Writing: I got my contrac...